A Two-Sided Lockdown? Social Class Variations in the Implementation of Homeschooling During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected how schools and families functioned through most of 2020. In particular, school closures meant parents took on a more central role in their children’s learning. This study analyzed social class variations in the quantity and quality of homeschooling during the lockdown. Through an online questionnaire, 360 parents reported (1) their digital equipment and use, (2) the perceptions of their ability to homeschool their children, (3) how they handled homeschooling and (4) the extent to which they supported other activities considered more or less “profitable” from an educational point of view (e.g., reading, watching television). A social position index was used as a proxy of social class. The results indicated that all parents were highly involved in setting up homeschooling and that the lower the parents’ social position, the more they spent time homeschooling their children. However, in line with the digital divide literature, the lower the parents’ social position, the lower the digital equipment and the less the parents felt capable of homeschooling. Finally, the higher the social position of the families, the more children spent time doing activities considered to be “educationally profitable,” and the less they spent time doing “unprofitable activities.” Thus, even if all parents were highly involved in homeschooling, higher social position parents were better equipped both materially and psychologically to face the challenge of homeschooling. The long-term impact of these processes on the perpetuation of social class inequalities are discussed.

The Social and Economic Impact of Covid-19 on Family Functioning and Well-Being: Where do we go from here?

“…Many single parents (and those from single-income families) had to maintain the work-family balance with few supports. Some researchers caution that the long-term effects of the pandemic may further widen existing inequalities in income and poverty, education and skills, and intergenerational inequalities, particularly children (including vulnerable children), families with children and young people (British Academy, 2021 ; Horowitz et al, 2021 ; Sanrey et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Of note, whereas racial/ethnic/religious minorities in both countries were more likely to experience spending volatility, only Black and Hispanic (in the US) and Arab (in Israel) households were more likely to experience hardships. Sanrey et al, ( 2021 ) examined social class as a contextual factor in understanding the quantity and quality of homeschooling in France during the April 2020 lockdown. Their findings provided some evidence of a widening educational achievement gap during the first wave of the pandemic.…”

‘It’s out of my hands’: Migrant parents’ challenging experiences of home-schooling during the COVID-19 lockdowns

“…But accounts of our participants suggest that not all parents had equal opportunities to engage in their children’s remote learning. This insight contradicts Sanrey et al’s (2021) conclusion: ‘the lower the parents’ social position, the more they spent time home-schooling their children’ (p. 1). For migrant parents, time constraints can be an expression of restrictive capital interaction.…”

“…In contrast, children from disadvantaged social positions face disjuncture, which could lead to disengagement from the learning process. Recent studies also showed that social position variations mediate the quality and quantity of parental engagement in home-schooling (Goudeau et al, 2021; Sanrey et al, 2021).…”

Emotional and behavioral changes in French children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study

“…It was associated with higher domestic conflict 11 , academic backwardness 12 , increased anxiety and suicidal behaviors 13 , 14 . The difficulties associated with homeschooling may have exacerbated inequalities in terms of economic, numerical and cultural disparities between social groups, acting as additional factors for worsening mental health in children 15 . Although the specific effect of homeschooling on children’s mental health was difficult to isolate, since it was included in a vast array of mitigation strategies, some studies reported that symptom intensity of mental health disorders varies in phase with the periods of homeschooling/school reopening 16 , 17 .…”